For loving an angel
by Rose de Sharon
Summary: Missing scene: what happened to Bootstrap Bill after Jones found out the key has been stolen from him?
1. The Captain

**FOR LOVING AN ANGEL**

By Rose de Sharon

**SUMMARY:** missing scene: what happened to Bootstrap Bill after Jones found out the Dead Man's Chest's key has been stolen from him?

**DISCLAIMER:** the recognizable characters belong to Mickey Mouse.

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

- English isn't my native language, all mistakes are mine.

- Some details come from the _"Pirates of the Caribbean visual guide",_ published by Dorling Kindersley Ltd., others from Wikipedia the free on-line encyclopedia.

Feedback: Flames will be used to reduce my heating bills.

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The men on night watch were still asleep when the bo'sun, Jimmy Legs, came on the main deck for his tour of duty. The first rays of sunshine were illuminating the horizon, giving the_ Flying Dutchman _a warm look with red and golden colors which were completely uncalled for on this ghost ship. This sight was already irritating the bo'sun who hated daylight with a passion, but seeing his crew sleeping among empty bottles of rum dangerously increased his anger. He grabbed his whip and slashed it mercilessly on the unsuspecting monsters.

"Bunch of sea-rats! Having your beauty sleep, are you? I'll teach ya! Drunkards! Good-for-nothing idiots!" yelled Jimmy Legs, punctuating every insult with a strike of his whip.

Alternately howling and begging, the sailors scrambled on their feet while trying to avoid the lashes, but to no avail. Jimmy Legs had a special enjoyment inflicting pain to the sailors – some crewmembers suspected the bo'sun had a pretty rough time with it on his "normal" days, giving him a rage to hurt people on a daily basis with the whip.

"Back to ya posts, ya slugs!" ordered Jimmy Legs. "Double share o' work, plus ten lashes each to remind ya ta stay awake!"

The guilty party distanced themselves quickly from the bo'sun and his whip. The day crewmen were rushing to the main deck to obey the call of _"First watch! All hands on deck!"_; even though there was a moment of indecision when their comrades didn't go downstairs to sleep. But a few whiplashes and curses from the bo'sun gave them all the needed information: the night watch members were going to be punished for neglecting their duties.

Bootstrap Bill Turner was standing among the day crew's ranks, but he paid no notice to Jimmy Legs and his diatribe against his future victims. His attention was focused on the horizon and, to his great relief, he could see for himself that the _Edinburgh Trader_ had disappeared. He was certain Will had made it to the boat, thus escaping Jones' clutches.

"**AAAAAAAAAARRRHH!"** thundered a voice from beneath the deck, and all the crewmen jumped in terror, including the bo'sun.

Jones' peg leg thumped in approach, and Bill Turner noticed the sea creatures encrusted to the boat's planks didn't retract into their shells as usual: this time, they were fleeing as fast as they could from the main deck, having felt the _Dutchman'_smaster incandescent anger.

"**WHERE IS THE BOY?"** yelled Davy Jones as he charged at his crew, his tentacles swishing in all directions like a deranged octopus.

Instantly, blowfish-face Kaloniko and jellyfish-alike Peterson immobilized Bootstrap Bill's arms. Jones grabbed the elder Turner by the neck with the lobster claw replacing his left hand, screaming at the top of his lungs: **"WHERE IS YOUR SON?"**

Bill couldn't have answered even if he'd wanted to; the pressure from the claw was strangling him. He was aware that Jones' favorite way to force his victims to speak was to cut off their air until they passed out, and when they came around, tighten the grip again. Within minutes, the victims would beg the Captain to stop, to ask them whatever he wanted to know. But Bootstrap Bill was resolute to face Jones' anger as long as it took to buy Will some extra time to flee. Nothing mattered to the former pirate but his son's safety, even at the cost of his own life and damned soul.

"**Answer me now!" **roared Davy Jones again.** "WHERE IS YOUR SON?"**

The pressure around his neck was unbearable and Bootstrap could feel himself falling into unconsciousness. Dark black circles were muddling in front of his eyes and Bill thought it was the end of his torments. Strangely, he wasn't afraid; he didn't mind dying after he'd been reunited briefly with his son. Will has stolen both the Dead Man's Chest's key and his father's heart last night.

Suddenly, the grip was released but the elder Turner didn't have time to gasp for air: Jones' claw slapped him across the face so hard he could have sworn his jaw had broken under the impact. Groggily, Bill heard Jones' orders to _"Find the whelp! Search all the ship, from top to bottom!" _and his knees buckled beneath him. Only Kaloniko and Peterson's iron grip on his arms prevented him from falling down.

After a short while, the dizziness passed. Bill's vision cleared and he saw Jones staring at him while holding out a piece of dirty cloth in his nearly-tentacle hand.

"My key is missing. All I found in stead is this rag! Your son stole the key and I want it back!"

Baker, the sailor who looked like a shrimp, came bouncing on the main deck.

"We searched everywhere, Captain!" he said in his high-pitched voice. "The boy's not aboard. And one of the longboats is missing!"

Jones hated listening to bad news bearers. One swing of the crab claw sent Baker smashing against the mainmast, almost breaking the crewman in two. Baker fell in a crumpled heap on the deck, his antennas barely twitching in agony. Jimmy Legs kicked the body downstairs through a hatch.

The _Flying Dutchman_'s captain turned his attention back to William Turner Sr.: "You helped your son escape from my ship! Do you know the punishment for such a traitorous deed?"

"Let 'im ta us, Captain!" interrupted Jimmy Legs. "'e'll pay for his crime!"

"Silence!" roared Jones. "You'll explain later how the boy has managed to pass unnoticed from the night watch, bo'sun!"

Jimmy Legs retreated in the background, suddenly afraid for his own safety. Almost inaudible snickers could be heard among the crewmembers but one deadly look from Legs stopped any kind of amused thought.

"What do you have to say for your defense, Mister Turner?" asked Jones with a now deceptively amicable voice, the one he used to "persuade" doomed sailors to serve for a hundred years before the mast of the ghost ship.

Bill Turner's eyes shone briefly above the seashells adorning his face. They were as blue as the cloudless morning sky.

"My son was free to go ashore, you said so yourself, Captain! After the game of Liar's Dice last night, remember?"

_Did you honestly think I would leave my son… my _**angel**_ aboard that horror you call a ship, Captain? You'll have to content yourself with my life and my soul, but never William's!_

Jones looked like he was going to strike Bootstrap Bill again, but then he turned back to face his crew. The cursed sailors all looked down in fear, but their silence spoke for themselves. The captain has indeed said, in front of everyone, that Will was free to leave the _Flying Dutchman_ after his father has gambled his own soul at the game of Liar's Dice – and lost the bet so clumsily no one have realized it was deliberate.

Davy Jones grabbed the elder Turner by the throat again: "So, your son sneaked into my cabin, stole the key and a longboat while I was gaining your worthless soul for an eternity. Is that correct, Mister Turner?"

Bootstrap Bill kept quiet. He was ready to suffer any kind of chastisement Jones could ever imagine. A small price to pay for loving his angel!

"And I suppose that you've planned I would waste my time torturing you while your issue would put many leagues behind him, and deliver the key to Jack Sparrow. You seem to have a knack for sacrificing yourself, Mister Turner! Now, tell me..." added Jones in susurration as his lobster claw released Bill's throat, "don't you fear pain from torments worse than those given in Hell?"

**"I DON'T CARE!"** yelled Bootstrap Bill in his Captain's face.

For the second time this morning, the _Flying Dutchman_'s crew was startled: no one has ever dared to openly defy Davy Jones' authority! And who would have guessed this act of courage would come from the silent and obedient "Bootstrap" Bill Turner?

"Oh, you don't?" snarled the Captain through gritted teeth. "Well, let me tell you this…"

A call from the crow's nest interrupted Jones' tirade: _"Ship a quarter stem!"_

Bill's eyes flashed in alarm: could the lookout have spotted the _Edinburgh Trader_ already? That wouldn't give Will enough time to distance himself from the _Flying Dutchman_! But before the elder Turner could think of something, Jones' claw hit him across the face again, sending him into oblivion.


	2. The Kraken

When Bootstrap Bill came to, he was on the quarterdeck, still restrained by Kaloniko and Peterson who was holding a sawfish sword against him. The _Edinburgh Trader_ was on sight, right ahead of the _Flying Dutchman_. Davy Jones was glaring at the innocent merchant ship, clutching the cloth in his tentacle and growling under his breath. Anyone who'd dared to look at him this very moment would have been scared witless, but little would have known the captain was actually furious at himself.

The young Turner has managed to rob him thrice in a row. Once, when he has refused to cry, beg or argue during his whipping by his father's hand, thus denying the Captain of a cruel satisfaction. The second time, when Jones has tried to keep the son for an eternity on his ship as a hostage – but his plans to watch him being slowly destroyed by the curse have been ruined by the shabby but interfering father. Afterwards, the young Turner has made a mockery of his authority by stealing from him and fleeing his ship!

Jones suddenly spotted the familiar silhouette of the young man dashing to climb the mainmast's ratlines of the pursued ship. He turned around and smiled wickedly at Bill while grabbing him by the throat once more.

"You will watch this!" hissed the Captain just before releasing his hold on the former pirate.

Whiplashes could be heard and Bootstrap Bill looked down at the crewmen who were hit by Jimmy Legs' favorite toy: Maccus, Clanker, Bib and Bob, Hadras… all of those who have been caught sleeping on the job this morning were receiving their punishment from the enthusiastic bo'sun. Suddenly, Bill realized the men were turning the wheel of "The Device", the giant screw-like column which was used to summon…

"Let no joyful voice be heard!" proclaimed Davy Jones. "Let no man look up at the sky with hope! And let this day be cursed by we who ready to wake…"

_No…_

"The Kraken!"

"NOOOOOOOO!"yelled Bootstrap Bill in anguish, but The Device has already fallen with a loud bang, calling Jones' leviathan against the merchant ship.

_Will! My son! My angel! Oh no! NO!_

Snickering, Kaloniko and Peterson tightened their hold on the desperate father. The _Edinburgh Trader_ came to an abrupt stop in suddenly bubbling waters. Cries of surprises and frantic orders could be heard from the ghost ship, increasing its crew's impatience to watch the upcoming massacre.

Helplessly, Bootstrap Bill watched as the Kraken attacked the unwary ship. Giant tentacles covered with huge suckers raised themselves around the hull, then wrapped around the masts before snapping them in half like twigs. The defensive efforts deployed by the terrorized sailors were no match against the powerful arms of the Kraken; in fact they were only angering it even more.

With a ferocious roar, the beast slammed his tentacles into the _Edinburgh Trader_'s deck, deftly snapping it in two in a shower of splinters. Under the violence of the impact, men and materials bounced overboard, some of them falling directly in the Kraken's greedy mouth armed with rows of razor-sharp fangs. The monster then dove back to the depths of the ocean, dragging the remains of the merchant ship down, leaving only floating corpses and debris in its wake.

Bill Turner's mind had fallen into an abyss of despair after witnessing the horrible display of Jones' power of command. He neither heard the Captain sentencing him to the brig, nor did he saw the cursed crew axing from behind the few survivors of the _Edinburgh Trader_. His voice had died within his throat; he couldn't smell the emanations of the Kraken's foul breath anymore. He was even indifferent to the rough treatment he was receiving from his former shipmates, or to the new barnacles growing on his cheekbones.

He couldn't feel anything, save the pain of his broken heart.

_My William…_


	3. The Brig

By shared opinion, the bilges at the very bottom of the _Flying Dutchman_ were the very bowels of Hell.

In the old days of the ship, it used to be a storage space where crates, boxes, chests and barrels full of items were carefully stocked to preserve treasures from the New World like spices, wood and tobacco. Before Davy Jones had turned into a monster, his ship was acknowledged to be the fastest merchant vessel of England, crossing the Atlantic back and forth so quickly that nothing – including tempests and pirates – could get in its way. Jones' mastering of the sea brought prosperity and happiness in England and the Caribbean, its holds always clean and full of riches. It was formerly a space synonym of prosperity.

Now, it was dark and reeked of putrefaction, dying sea creatures and fear. When reaching the end of their lives, the seashells covering the ship and its crewmembers got loose and fell in the bottoms of the hull. The floor was covered with thousands of empty shells and decaying small creatures, while seaweed and coral were growing on them. But it wasn't the worst sight of all: the beams and joists weren't made of wood, but of human parts. It was the final resting place for the sailors who had refused to serve Davy Jones and have been tortured afterwards, for "fun", years ago. The Captain didn't like defying people and granted them a quick death – by axe or knife – only when he got bored. But he kept the remains as construction materials and also as warning for his crew of the consequences from disobeying Jones' orders.

Locked up in a cage, shackled in irons, one of the _Flying Dutchman_'s sailors has been cruelly reminded that the Captain's authority was paramount on the ship. But truth to be told, the seaman didn't care about his sentence to be locked up in the brig for an indefinite length of time.

Cages and irons were useless to him, for he was chained with despair.

His name was William Turner Sr., also known as "Bootstrap" Bill Turner.

And he had just witnessed the destruction of the ship carrying his son by Jones' leviathan, the Kraken.

Forty-four good men have lost their lives this day, their ship broken in two and dragged to the depths of the ocean by the tentacle-bearing monster. Among the victims was the only good part of Bill Turner's life, the bearer of his heart, his son.

The former pirate was sitting in a corner of the cage holding him, his head leaning against the rusted bars. His unfocused gaze was indifferent to his nightmarish environment. He could only see a red-hot iron image branded in his mind: the destruction of _the Edinburgh Trader_, innocent victim of a demon's reprisals against one of his own crewmembers, who had dared to place his love for his child higher than Davy Jones' authority.

_William is dead._

Bootstrap Bill curled up into a ball, huddling against the corner of his cell as much as he could.

_Will… My Will…_

_My cherished son is gone._

Tears were running freely on his face, mixing with the barnacles and starfishes that were growing on his cheeks at an alarming rate. But Bootstrap Bill never felt the creatures invading his face. How could he, as he was blinded and deafened by the pain of his broken heart?

A monster obeying a demon has killed his son. His love and hope.

The grieving father searched beneath his ragged shirt and found a lock of long, black hair. It was his child's; Bootstrap Bill had collected it while Will has been sleeping last night aboard the _Flying Dutchman_, recovering from injuries and mistreatments at the hands of the bo'sun after his capture. Bill had hidden his son for a few hours safe from prying eyes, nursed his wounds and found him a place to rest for awhile. Out of impulse, he had cut a lock of Will's hair to keep it with him at all times, just before setting his son free from the ghost ship and its freakish crew.

The lock of hair wrapped itself around the elder Turner's fingers. Sobbing, Bill kissed it.

Years ago, he had accepted his doomed fate, thinking it was rightful punishment for his piracy, the abandonment of his family and for his inability to stop the mutiny against Captain Jack Sparrow. But he couldn't – and wouldn't – have resigned himself to see his son suffering from his father's actions. Will was innocent and he had a light within him that had helped him to stay honest over the years, instead of answering the sirens' call for easy money like his father did. Will Turner Jr. had an angelic soul and he deserved to live a good life with the woman he loved.

Bootstrap Bill could feel the shards of his broken heart poking against his ribs. His angel was now in Heaven, leaving him in more pain than during the long years he had been tied to a cannon, left on the ocean's floor to be crushed by the weight of the water. Bill knew his serving oath would prevent him to die too soon. And yet, a part of him was tempted to accelerate his curse and to end up like poor Wyvern within days instead of years.

His tears were solidifying into nacre on his face. That phenomenon had happened already once, when Bill Turner had cradled in his arms his sleeping son in Davy Jones' secret and private storage room. Only this time, the nacre wasn't iridescent but lusterless, broken… decaying.

The sorrow wrecking the father's body and soul was unbearable. Jones had him locked up in the brig for _"needed time alone with his thoughts" _and Bill thought the pain was going to drive him into madness.

_If I had the tiniest hope that Will is still alive, I would take it._

One tear escaped from Bill's eyes and landed on the lock of hair he was still keeping tightly in his fist. The doomed ex-pirate watched it, mesmerized by this drop of water, the very last proof of his humanity laid on a memento of his son. Will, his marvelous darling, a heart of gold glowing in a darkened world.

Suddenly, the tear retracted into a shining particle.

Startled, Bootstrap Bill Turner almost dropped Will's hair on the waterlogged floor. For an instant, he thought his mind has been playing tricks on him but the glittering teardrop was still there, nestled between the strands. With trembling fingers, Bill collected it between his index finger and his thumb.

He could hardly believe what he was seeing: _the teardrop has turned into a diamond!_

The elder Turner could have screamed out loud at the sight of this tiny miracle, and unintentionally warning his gaolers. Only the paralyzing shock prevented him to do so.

He wasn't even aware the newest barnacles he'd acquired were leaving his face at all speed, nor that the starfish covering his right eye was retracting its limbs, improving his eyesight. His heart was thudding furiously and his mouth was wide open, without any sound coming out of it. Bootstrap Bill's blue eyes, glowing phosphorescent again, were fixed on the sparkling gem as if it contained all the secrets of the universe.

_A diamond…_

_A diamond soul…_

_My William!_

Bill Turner busted into tears again, clenching the diamond in his first along with Will's lock of hair. Someone, somewhere, had answered his prayers and gave him a sign his son was still alive, on his way to stab Davy Jones' rotten heart to free him. Will has survived the wreckage caused by the Kraken: he was much stronger than any kind of monsters Jones could sick on him!

And Bill Turner's had recovered his inner strength, a sentiment eroded by years of slavery. It would have been easier for the former pirate to give up; to renounce at any idea of helping Will escape the _Flying Dutchman_, worn down by his fear of its Captain. But Bootstrap Bill's love for his child has being awakened in a heartbeat at the simple sight of Will's handsome face illuminated by a flash of lightening. It has been as brutal and welcome as a meteor falling from the sky and crashing into an ice-covered land.

Apparently, Davy Jones wasn't aware that cursed souls could love.

A mere oversight, which will cost him dearly!

Bootstrap Bill curled into a ball again, hiding his face in his arms, his first still clutching his treasures. He didn't want his former shipmates to see the shine of hope dancing in his blue eyes.

And a small part of his mind whispering a unique word to his ear: _revenge_.

THE END!


End file.
